Music Trade Review

JUNE
21, 1919
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
PROTEST HIGHER ROLL PRICES
TELLS OF PLAYER ROLL PROGRESS
Cincinnati Association Discusses Proposed In­
crease and Is Opposed to Plan
Charley Straight, the "Ragtime Paderewski,"
Comments on Great Development in Player
Roll Recording During the Past Few Years
CINCIN NATI, 0., June 17.- A meeting of the
Music Industries Association of Cincinnati was
held at the Chamber of Commerce on Thurs­
day evening, at which time the princ:pal sub­
ject for discussion 1Nas the plan of the manu­
facturers to raise the price of music rolls. D. F.
Summey, president of the association, spoke
against the price increase and said:
"\A/henever the player roll manufacturer
jumps the price of a roll over one dollar he is
also jumping hi1mself out of business. That
means us, too. Occasionally a roll will appear
on the market that will sell for over the dollar
mark, but the average buyer instantly seeks the
safety zone when you mention a player roll
at exactly one dollar or more."
The discussion was general and' the associa­
tion unal'imously disapproved of any price
raise, Wm. R. Graul being appointed to place
the views of the association before the pro­
ducers. It was stated that the sales of player
rolls have not been progressing so 1Nell in
the Middle West during the past two months,
and it was believed an increase just now would
have a tendency to curb any chance of the
buyers getting interested i'n new· records. For
the time being the association will g et alon g
With a program committee, to consist of D. F.
Summey, George Gross and Wm. R. Graul.
There will be no formal gatherings of the new
organ:zation until September, but NIr. Summey
hopes to have several impromptu out-of-door
meetings in July and August.
SAXOPHONE OUARTET MADE A HIT
Republic Player Roll Corp(}ration Added Zest
to Activities During Convention Week by
Keeping the Quartet Busy at all Times
Those who attended the convention in Chi­
cago will not soon forget the Republic Player
Holl Quartet, who made it a point to be present
and add life wherever convention activ;ties held
sway. The daily concerts in the lobby of the
Congress Hotel were one of the talks of the
convention. Each saxophone from the smallest
to the big bass gave forth its quota of original
harmonies- -truly consistent advertising for
original harmonies and arrangements that are
giving Republic rolls increasing' popularity.
The Lee Music Co., Enid, Kan., has been in­
corporated at a cap:tal of $100,000 by H. W.
eee, L. A. C1~enoweth and G. B. Sloan, of Enid.
39
to
the most complete pianistic possibility.
In talking of the advantages of the player
roll business from a retailer's point of view Mr.
Straight said:
"You can get a merchant to realize the profit
possibilities in the player-piano readily enough,
but what we want the merchant to realize is
that continued interest in a player-piano can only
come through giving the player-piano owner a
suies of new sensations by incorporating new
things in the player rolls he purchas"o.
"You can't expect one player-piano to sell
another if folks that hear that player-piano
Charley Straight, known as the "Ragtime
Paderewski," has some interesting views to of­
fer regarding some of the modern developments
in the trade that have made it possible for music
merchants to play a profitable tune on their
cash registers.
One of the outstandin g features of the recent
Chicago
convention
was the unusual in­
terest evidenced in the
player roll business
and the possibilities of
its development, and
Mr. Straight is credit­
ed wi th being one of
the first to recognize
these possibilities in a
musical way.
After referring to
the more or less crude
character of the mu­
sic rolls that were of­
fereel for sale some
years ago when he
first entered the field
M r. Straight told of
his work to improve
the quality of the rolls
musically anel how he
had studied the prob­
lem as a member .)£
the staff of the Imper­
ial Player Roll Co. He
particularly em ph a­
sized the point that
not every good pianis~
is capable of recor't­
ing a good player roll,
and said:
"J found that every
good pianist was not
necessarily a good r~­
cording pianist. This
is no reRection what­
ever upon their abil­
ity, but it is a fact
that it does take a
particular sort of skill
to get effects into a
roll so that the pu blic
can get them out.
"I believe Miss Mary
Charley Straight at the Piano
A ngell's work, for instance, emphasizes this never hear anything new or novel coming on
point most strikingly. She is indeed a most
of it. Furthermore, you can't expect people
accomplished musician, but her pe lies in the reproducing of extremely difficult something new to talk to them about, some­
se:ections from the classics so as to produce a
thing new for them to hear.
player roll 'Nhich gives the public a truer por­
"That's why Imperial rolls are so popular for
trait of a masterpiece than they could secure
every month we work something new into a
were the numbers to be played by even a great­
player roll and give the merchants something to
talk a bou t."
er musIcian who lacked what for want of a
bdter term I will call recording technique.",
Some days ago Mr. Straight was seen work­
ing with Burt Franklin on their recording of
"Baby," the song hit from "The Passing Show."
As they were recording, a number of new notes
were noted in the composition. A. bit of original
ragging, a clever interpolated run or a chord
or two that the original co\mposers never
dreamed of. In other words, they were round­
ing out a good song so as to give the public a
performance that was absolutely finished down
WM. C. HEATON IN NEW YORK
'vV. C. Heaton, who was elected vice-presi­
dent and sales manager of the ~\uto Pneumatic
Action Co. last week arrived in N ew York
on Monday, June 16, to assume his duties.
Mr. Heaton has always been an admirer of
New York City, which he had made his home
until he went to Chicago to organize a Western
branch for the Kohler Industries.